An isolated cottage in Norfolk seems an odd setting for a "taut, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller". And so it proves.

A combination of murder mystery, ghost story and unintentional pantomime, Framed borrows from a range of genres and ends up resembling a cheap thriller.

How the audience is supposed to sympathise with its central character, a pill-popping moron called Judy, is a mystery in itself.

But in the end the characters are simply disposable ciphers created to push the bizarre plot to some kind of neat conclusion.

Plenty of money has obviously been spent on the set, although, as one member of the audience pointed out on Monday night, the interior looks more like a Barratt home than a centuries-old cottage.

The audacious use of cliches is amusing to watch. A haunted house, a murder in the garden, the drug dealing ex-husband, sinister power cuts, mysterious noises. And that is before they bring out the ouija board and the corn doll.

Perhaps it should be no surprise to learn that Martin Sterling's day job is writing scripts for Coronation Street. Or that several of the cast are refugees from the world of soap opera, for whom murder, witchcraft, criminality and betrayal is part of the daily diet. In the end, the play tries too hard.

The small amount of suspense the actors build up in the first stages of the play amounts to little as their characters are forced to deliver lines which prompt laughter from the audience.

The temptation to shout "he's behind you" whenever a shadowy figure appears behind the window is almost too strong to resist.

This need not ruin the play. In fact, if the producers work up the pantomime feel of the production, they might yet have a hit on their hands.

All they need is some good jokes and a few songs. Perhaps a giant werewolf could appear out of the Norfolk wilderness and slaughter them all for the finale.